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ARCHITECTURU SIGNIFI _,'-,N'CE (Describe important architectural features and
<br /> evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
<br /> Set on a busy street near mid-nineteenth century workers cottages and
<br /> vernacular houses, this double house is actually a mid-eighteenth century house
<br /> that was moved to this location. Only a few of the exterior finishes still
<br /> remain, however: the clapboards on the facade; the window caps on the four east-
<br /> ernmost second story windows; and the cornice molding at either end of the
<br /> facade. The original four panel door is stored in the basement. According to
<br /> the former owner, who is knowledgeable about historic houses, there are not
<br /> (see Continuation Sheet)
<br /> HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
<br /> history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
<br /> The house was originally on Massachusetts Avenue at about the present
<br /> intersection of Winthrop Road. It belonged to Benjamin Merriam (1737-1806) ,
<br /> who served in the Revolution, and is one of the houses pillaged by the British
<br /> on April 19, 1775; Merriam's losses were valued at 1.223 4s. , one of the highest
<br /> in town (Hudson, I, p. 174) , so at least part of the house may have been burned,
<br /> as tradition claims. There used to be a plaque on the outside of the house
<br /> that read: "House of Benjamin Merriam, one of the Minute Men whose family fled
<br /> on the approach of the British, who pillaged the house, April 19, 1775" (Hudson,
<br /> I, p. 552) .
<br /> In the nineteenth century the house was owned by the Viles family: in
<br /> 1852 by Joel Viles, a shoemaker and later a farmer, and in 1876 and 1889 by
<br /> William Viles, a farmer. The Merriam-Viles house was moved to its present
<br /> location on March 23, 1894, because Benjamin Tenney, husband of Mary Viles, had
<br /> built a new house on the Msachusetts Avenue lot (Edwin Worthen t� Eugene J.
<br /> Viano, February 7, 1941) . pee, �`i3� ',SQG`rve
<br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
<br /> Bryant, Albert W. "Lexington Sixty Years Ago," 1890. Proceedings of the
<br /> Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 57. Lexington: Lexington
<br /> Historical Society, 1900.
<br /> Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
<br /> 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume I, pp. 174, 552. Boston:
<br /> Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
<br /> Kelley, Beverly Allison. Lexington, A Century of Photographs, p. 35. Boston:
<br /> Lexington Historical Society, 1980.
<br /> Lexington Minute Man, March 23, 1894.
<br /> Edwin. Worthen to Eugene J. Viano, February 7, 1941. Letter on file in the
<br /> Worthen Collection, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, Massachusetts.
<br /> 1887 Directory
<br /> 10M - 7/82
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